Cricket Australia, recently, came under severe criticism, after they scheduled their side’s two series at almost the same time; one the T20I series against Sri Lanka, which starts on Friday at Melbourne, and the other the Test series against India, which commences on February 23 in Pune.
The issue which emerges now is their team have been split into two halves. The first team, led by Steven Smith is in India, while their second string side, captained by Aaron Finch, is all padded up for the shorter format assignment.
Stuart Clark, former Australian bowler, mocked and tagged the series as, ‘Who Cares Cup‘, adding Australia have always rested their prime players for the international T20Is, indicating the lack of respect for the format. Dismissing any such mocking, stand-in captain Aaron Finch said, ‘There’s still a lot riding on it and there’s still a lot of pride to play for, considering the country’s struggle to reach on the top in this format, particularly.
“We haven’t been as successful as we would’ve liked in the T20 format so I think this is a great opportunity for some young guys and some experienced guys to get some international experience and really put their name up there.”
The attacking opener feels many newcomers would be cherishing the opportunity to make a name for themselves in the series. Citing the example of Michael Klinger, who had to wait for 15 years to get into the side, Finch said it would be exciting for the players out there.
“Every time you represent your country, it’s a huge honour and there’s going to be some guys who do it for the first time and someone like Maxy Klinger, who gets an opportunity after the best part of 15 years of grinding it out and being very successful.”
Asserting how he feels about the approach towards T20I cricket, the 30-year-old said he would pick T20 in the end if given to choose between all three formats.
“I’d say out of the three (formats), T20 internationals would probably be the least prioritized until a World Cup year. I understand that but it also makes it difficult. You don’t play a real lot. I suppose it’s a fine line … how many (are) enough preparation to go into a world tournament and expect to be successful.”
“I think if you’re taking on one or two games to the end of each series, the summer just blows out and become too long in my opinion. At the end of the day you have to rest people and you have to give guys a chance to be at their best for Test and One-Day cricket.”
Australia would anyway won’t be taking Sri Lanka lightly, after learning the visitors have re-called their former captain Lasith Malinga. The contest would be mouthwatering as the coverage begins from Friday afternoon from Melbourne.